


name the sky your own (caged bird)

by jaffirmation



Category: Wentworth (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-15 00:53:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7198823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaffirmation/pseuds/jaffirmation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bea + Allie, post-slot-rapping. Happily, these two are canon now, so I'll allude to some of the very beautiful scenes from the show. Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. one

 

_The caged bird sings_  
_with a fearful trill_  
_of things unknown_  
_but longed for still_  
_and his tune is heard_  
_on the distant hill_  
_for the caged bird_  
_sings of freedom._

\- Maya Angelou

 

* * *

 

It was suddenly, disconcertingly quiet.

Bea paced the solitary confinement cell again, on edge. She ran her hand along the cell wall - under her hand, the bricks felt rough and unpleasantly scratchy. Oddly, the sensation helped calm her a little. Lately, she just felt so.. _strange._

There was a feeling in Bea's stomach that wouldn't quit. Hadn't for days.

A strange nervousness.

A lightness in her head.

In her chest.

_This was ridiculous._

She wanted her to come back. To talk some more. To -

'Ahhhh.' Bea stood and paced again, frustrated.

As she did, she forced her thoughts to Debbie again. It wasn't hard - her daughter was never far from her mind.

_Her smile. Her laugh. Her voice._

It hurt so much. Now, though, the pain was a welcome distraction.

Finally - mercifully - after another hour of pacing, Bea found herself able to sit.

To sleep.

Dreamlessly.

 

* * *

 

'You're avoiding me.'

It wasn't a question. And Allie was too smart to bullshit.

A week later, and Bea felt a tug at her arm; suddenly, she was in a stairwell, face-to-face with Allie. She'd dragged her in as they'd passed in the corridor.

_Yes, she'd been avoiding her._

_This was dangerous._

'Yeah.' Bea avoided Allie's gaze, hurriedly scanning the corridor behind them for signs of anyone compromising _._ 'So?'

She hadn't intended to sound so defensive. But there it was.

When she looked back at Allie, though, the openness – the _familiarity_ \- she saw there was shocking.

Confusing.

'Why?' Allie didn't attempt to conceal her expression; she was hurt. 'That night in the slot meant something to me, Bea.' She stopped, searching Bea's face; considering her own words. 'I thought it mighta meant something to you too.'

Allie had moved closer – though still not touching Bea – so that her voice resonated even more softly in the stairwell. She was close enough that Bea could feel the warmth radiating from the younger woman's body.

_Shit. Shit._

'It did -' Bea swayed backwards a little, dizzily. 'But this is really dangerous, Allie.'

'What is?' Allie's eyes shone in the low light of the stairwell, her lips quirking slightly.

Prompting her.

_The cheeky little shit._

' _Us._ ' Bea hissed. 'Being seen together, being _here_ – it could get you hurt. Badly.' Bea looked away from Allie's face again, because it was all of a sudden too much - she was absolutely fucking drowning in whatever the hell this was.

'And what about you?' Allie stood a little taller, lifted her chin stubbornly. 'I'm pretty dangerous myself, y'know. In fact, I'm a shady motherfucker. Got a rap sheet as long as my arm, yo.' Blue eyes winked at her.

Bea groaned and snorted a laugh - clamping a hand over her mouth fiercely to stifle the sound. There were dozens of women walking past the stairwell, now; some of them looked in, curiously.

_God, this was so dangerous._

'Fuck off, Allie.' Bea said it in her most commanding voice; nearly shouting for the benefit of the crowd walking past them. 'Stay the _fuck_ away from my girls, or I'll come down on you like a ton of fucking bricks.'

Bea watched over Allie's shoulder as the crowd of women walked on, satisfied, ignoring them again.

Then, without trying to stop herself, Bea let her hands reach forward and tangle in the bottom of Allie's shirt. Through the thin material she felt Allie's stomach contract, heard her suck in a breath, tightly.

'Bea..'

Bea tugged her forward gently – totally unsure of what she was doing or why – until their bodies were pressed together. Bea felt her hands slide around Allie's waist, to her lower back, and linger there, hesitantly. Her cheek was against Allie's, now.

_She smelled so lovely. Soap and shampoo and some kind of flower that she'd forgotten about._

Bea heard a hitch in Allie's breathing. A tiny – _was it?_ \- a tiny sigh.

_Something about the sound was.. exciting._

They swayed together for a moment; Allie's hand slid across Bea's hip, her fingertips stroked gently up her arm, and came to rest at the base of her neck, massaging the skin gently there.

Bea shivered. She wasn't anything like cold.

Allie's lips were against her ear, then, murmuring something.. Bea couldn't hear over the incredibly loud buzzing in her head.

Then, just as quickly as it had happened, it was over: Bea pushed Allie away forcefully – two hands hard against her stomach - and exited the stairwell, not looking back.

 


	2. two

Bea was deeply grateful Maxine was on her side. She was incredibly tough, in a way that had little to do with physical strength, or with who she'd been before.

She was smart, too. Intelligent. Observant.

Bea plonked her food-laden tray down at the mess table next to Maxine, who smiled at her and shuffled over. As she'd lined up for food, Allie had managed to unbalance her again with a brilliant smile and an embarrassingly large serve of potatoes. Bea cast a glare around at the women, daring someone to complain about  _something._

_Come on then. Let's go.  
_

Maxine gave her a wry look. 

'Everything.. ok?' Her 2IC put down her fork, studying Bea's face.

'Fine.' It came out more gruffly than Bea had planned. She softened her tone, tried again. 'Fine. Why d'you ask?'

'You just look a bit.. tense.' Maxine lowered her voice. 'Anything I can take care of for you?'

_Jesus Christ, no._

'Nah, I'm alright.' Bea pushed a mass of curly hair out of her face. 'Just not sleeping, I guess.'

'Mmm-hmm.' Maxine watched Bea's face, with an unreadable expression. 

Bea shovelled food into her mouth. She swore she could feel Allie watching her from the bain-marie, sometimes. 

_Her eyes were so disarming. Oddly familiar._

_Really, really blue._

Vaguely, Bea wanted to stop thinking and just.. punch something. 

'Maybe there's something you can take for the sleeplessness?' Maxine offered helpfully. 'I've got some licorice tea you can try.'

'Nah, I'm good.' Bea kept eating, distracted. 'Thanks, though.' She forced a small smile at Maxine, grateful, but wanting a change of subject.

'No problem.' Maxine returned to her tray of food.

They ate in silence for a few seconds, listening to Boomer tell a dirty joke.

'Maybe there's something Allie can do to help you sleep.' 

It came as barely a whisper, so Bea looked up - stunned - not quite sure she'd heard Maxine right.

Her 2IC innocently took a forkful of food and shot Bea a knowing look.

'Just saying, honey.. if someone looked at me the way she looks at you, and vice versa..'

Bea slammed her fork on the table.

'.. she could be the problem and solution in one.' Maxine winked at her.

' _I'm not GAY..'_ Bea hissed it, under her breath. 

The other women around the table looked up – sensing tension.

'Ok, ok.' Maxine patted Bea's arm. 'It's ok.'

Bea shovelled potatoes into her mouth, not at all hungry, but grateful for something to do that disguised how rattled she was.

_I'm not gay._

_I'm not._

 

_**_

'I don't care what you are.'

Pale blue eyes stared up at her, and Allie's lips quirked, in a way that made Bea's stomach flip over.

All of the oxygen had drained out of the room.

A thin blanket barely covered her bare legs.

Allie knelt in front of her.

Bea thought she might throw up.

Before she could even process what was happening, slender fingers drifted gently across her knee and soothed across the patch of barely-healed skin on her inner thigh.

She couldn't breathe. There wasn't enough air.

_Fucking hell.._

No one had _ever_ touched her like this. So gently, so carefully; like she was something terribly fragile, breakable.

Precious, even.

A part of her _knew_ , then.

She actually wanted – desperately, _urgently_ – for Allie to keep touching her exactly like that; and in whatever other way that came after it.

Her touch was so careful; so assured.

Bea couldn't breathe.

Allie applied more balm, carefully - and Bea's vision blurred into a place that wasn't this room: there was unblemished, cream-white skin, the soft muscles of Allie's arm flexing and tensing, her hand between Bea's legs, slender fingers drawing circles, urging her towards something, her own head falling back.

But then, Bea was back in her airless cell – Allie's hand was suddenly off her thigh, and she'd rocked back on her haunches; eyes locked on Bea's, smiling reassuringly.

Bea pulled the throw back over her legs, totally unsettled, breaking eye contact.

'Uh, yeah – thanks.' It came out croaky. She cleared her throat and tried again for a tone befitting a Top Dog. 'Thanks.'

Allie was still gazing at her, beaming – _she always seemed to be smiling at her_ – in a way that wasn't at all smug or knowing or predatory.

Still, Bea was a deer in headlights.

'All good.' Allie squeezed Bea's knee and stood, putting the bottle of Vitamin E balm on the windowsill. 'I'll leave you to re-pants, shall I?'

Then she was gone.

 


End file.
